JN216: Week 5 Media Blog

Topic 1:
1. My best work so far in the term was the Inauguration protest in Portland. I felt like I had to learn a lot to interview complete strangers, most of which are distrustful of the media. I also had to learn how to really remove myself and stay in my reporter role. I think it was just a very well-written piece, the lede is awesome and I think the amount of detail makes it a really effective piece in giving someone a perspective as if they were there, rather than a general overview.
2. My biggest challenge is approaching people to conduct interviews at events because I'm not particularly social. All of the protests I've covered have forced me to really step beyond my comfort zone and build confidence as a reporter and not be afraid to approach people.
3. The biggest lesson I've learned from Edna's book is that you have to be able to ride a wave of chaos to arrive at your story. You have to be ready to pounce on the story whenever it presents itself. What really drove that home for me was how primed she was to get to any event to cover a story, she was so ready that she would beat law enforcement at times. But her ability to get to scenes quickly was what really set her apart and made her have enough content to write several stories a day.
4. I have to get better and sussing out what really is and is not important for a story. I'm so detail-oriented that I find every minute detail worth including and that's simply not how news stories are written.

Topic 2:
1. Sami Al-AbdRabbuh
2. Sami's claim to fame is that he is a former congressional candidate, Corvallis School Board Member, OSU faculty and community organizer.
3. Source: Sami
4. Where are you from? How many jobs do you have? How do you do so many things? Why did you get so involved with so many different things?
5. I'm going to observe Sami at the end of one of his jobs and his transit to one of his other jobs.